ur-quan

Game: The Ur-Quan Masters

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Ur-Quan Masters Review

    The Ur-Quan masters is a PC port of the 3DO game Star Control II. The game was a hit for the 3DO in 1992 and it's still great today. While the 1 Player mode is excellent and you should get it just for that, I'll just discuss the multiplayer Melee mode here. You pick a fleet of up to 17 ships to battle your friend and then you're thrown into a space battle field to duke it out. The ships go one on one and after one is destroyed you call out the next on your team. The first one to destroy all of the other guy's ships is the winner.

Features

• • Choose from 25 different ships to make a fleet of 17

  • Ships have different point values. When choosing ships set a point limit to keep the teams balanced

  • Each ship has a unique primary and secondary ability, style and handling

  • One ship is good against this one but not this one. Make strategic choices

  • Planets in the battlefield have gravitational fields that suck in ships

  • Floating asteroids add interest to the battles

Rating

Graphics

***** - This game is a port of a much older game for the 3DO and it shows a bit of it's age in the graphics.              There're no spectacular lighting or particle effects but the graphics a pleasant enough, about              Gameboy Advance quality.

Sound

***** - The sound, while a little old, is great. There are all kinds of different lazer blasts, etc. In 1 Player              mode the characters all have real voices. The music, a new remix of the old Star Control II music, is also quite catchy. It's an atmospheric techno style.

Gameplay

***** - Many different ships with unique weapons and abilities and planets and asteroids to dodge all              make some pretty good fun.

Difficulty

***** - The computer players are extremely difficult. They're accurate and fast and know what thay're doing.

Replayability

***** - You can play this game for hours on end, but not for days. If you ever get sick of it play Gusanos              for a while and come back tomorrow and it'll be great fun again. The one player mode could              probably hold your interest for a very long time as well.

OVERALL

9.8/10

(This rating is not cumulative of the other scores)

Pros: Ships well balanced. Unique weapons for each ship. Good computer AI. Pretty good music.

Cons: Older graphics. Two ships are better than the rest. Nothing to freshen up gameplay after a while.